Adedapo Adesanya
By Adedapo Adesanya
The African Centre for Justice and Human Right has lauded the interventions introduced by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), saying they have had a positive impact on the lives of Nigerians.
This praise was given by the Centre’s Deputy Head of Communication, Mrs Jasmine Akpeh, who stressed that the organisation was aware that these interventions, under the CBN Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele, have been boosting job creation in the country, thereby saving millions of Nigerians, especially youths, from unemployment.
She said the group has also received testimonies from across the country on how some of the interventions have been lifting millions of others from poverty.
“Some of these interventions that have been making lives more meaningful for teeming Nigerians include but are not limited to the Anchor Borrowers Programme (ABP), the creative financing initiatives, solar energy interventions, family house ownership scheme, the interventions to cushion the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economy, firms and individuals among others.
“We, therefore, urge the apex bank to sustain these pro-people initiatives. We also urge Nigerians to embrace these life-changing interventions since they were designed for our benefits,” she stated.
President Muhammadu Buhari launched the ABP in 2015 to boost agricultural production and reverse Nigeria’s negative balance of payments on food.
Farmers captured under this programme include those cultivating cereals (rice, maize, wheat etc.) cotton, roots and tubers, sugarcane, tree crops, legumes, tomato and livestock.
Loans are disbursed to the beneficiary farmers through Deposit Money Banks (DMBs), Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) and Microfinance Banks (MFBs), which the programme recognises as Participating Financial Institutions (PFIs).
The creative financing initiative of the apex bank is aimed at providing facilities Creative in the four pillars of fashion, information technology, movie, and music.
The Solar Power Naija Program is a N140 billion Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) intervention facility intended to expand energy access to 25 million Nigerians, by enabling 5 million new, solar-based electricity connections in communities that are not connected to the grid.
The family housing scheme financing initiative seeks to support the Federal Government’s Economic Sustainability programme to fast track the deployment of 300,000 homes in the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory and to create up to 1.5 million jobs in 5 years.
The apex bank then released several initiatives to cushion against the coronavirus pandemic, including a N50 billion Targeted Credit Facility (TCF) as a stimulus package to support households and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) affected by the outbreak among others.
